Body building was an important part of Bruce Lee's training program. In addition to his weight training, Lee also incorporated weights into his martial arts workouts. Example, he would shadow box with small weights in his hands. This drill consisted of punching(12 series in a row, 100 punches per series, using a pyramid system of 1-,2-, 3-,5-, 7-, and 10-pound dumbbells). He would then reverse the pyramid and go 10, 7, 5, 3, 2, 1 and zero weight. This exercise burns your delts and arms.

"He had the biggest forearms proportionate to anybody's body that I've ever seen...I mean, his forearms were huge!"

Bruce Lee once said, "The athlete who is building muscles through weight training should be very sure to work adequately on speed and flexibility at the same time. Combined with adequate speed, flexibility and endurance, high levels of strength lead to excellence in most sports. In combat, without these prior attributes, a strong man will be like the bull with its colossal strength futilely pursuing the matador or like a low-geared truck chasing a rabbit."

Doug Palmer, one of Lee's students, stated, "Bruce was like Michael Jordan or Muhammad Ali in his prime - somebody who stood above everyone else. It's not that the other martial artists weren't good. It's that this guy was great."

Kareem Abdul Jabba, one of Bruce's close friends, remarked, "He was very strong and the weight that he did have was all muscle. He was in very keen shape; very sharp...but his whole thing was quickness - he fought like a cat."

Sample of Bruce Lee's training program
This is a three-times-per-week schedule that Bruce Lee followed. The other days were dedicated to running and martial arts training.

Stomach Exercise
1) Waist twists 4 sets of 70
2) Sit Up Twist 4 sets of 20
3) Leg Raises 4 sets of 20
4) Leaning Twist 4 sets of 50
5) Frog Kick 4 sets of 50

Forearm Exercises
1) Underhand Wrist Curl 4 sets of 17
2) Overhand Wrist Curl 4 sets of 12
3) Leverage Bar Curl (A) 4 sets of 15
4) Leverage Bar Curl (B) 4 sets of 15
5) Reverse Curl 4 sets of 6
6) Leverage Bar Twist 3 sets of 10

Punching Exercises
1) Straight Punch with Weight 3 sets of 12
2) Glove Straight Punching 2 sets of 12
3) Entering Straight Punching 2 sets of 12
4) Glove Elbowing 2 sets of 12
5) Glove Hooking 3 sets of 12

Stamina/Agility Training
1) Alternate Split 3 sets of 20
2) Jumping Squat 3 sets of 10
3) Skip Rope 3 sets of 12

Grip Training
Every Chance - Daily